Blind And Toothless
by Starquilter57
Summary: A dark oneshot.  Selek listens to a tale of violence and vengeance, related to him by Dr. Jack Wyatt, one of my favorite OC's.  Rated T for language, mention of child abuse.  Not slash!


I don't own Star Trek, any of the canon characters, nor do I make any profit from my writings.

This is somewhat dark, but something I just had to get out of my system.

Blind And Toothless

Selek sat on a bench outside the orphanage in New Shannai'Kahr. He was watching little Tarisk playing on the swings, trying to propel himself with his remaining leg. The child worked at it for several minutes, ready to give up in disgust when young T'Rula came along and gave him several pushes with her good arm.

She sat down on an adjacent swing and the two children began a lively chat.

The backdoor to the orphanage's clinic swung open, revealing Dr. Jack Wyatt. Jack and his life partner Dr. Lewis Mamakunian had come to New Vulcan on a six-month mission with Healers Without Borders. Lewis was a psychiatrist and Jack a surgeon. They would be returning to San Francisco in a few days.

"I brought you some ginger tea, Selek. May I join you?"

"Please do. I am merely observing the children."

Jack took a place next to Selek and the two sipped their tea in silence for a moment before Jack spoke again.

"It's good to see Tarisk interacting with another child. I was worried about him. He's suffered so much, experienced things a five-year-old should never have to."

"He seems to be getting around well on his crutches. Will it be possible to grow him a new leg?"

"Yes, I harvested some good tissue and we've begun the culture process. We'll take both it and Tarisk back to San Francisco with us. Our friend Dr. Sirin will perform the surgery."

"Very good. I understand that the Immigration Ministry has located a family member for the boy."

"That's true, Selek. He has an aunt who lives in San Francisco. Her name is T'Lunit. When I mentioned this to Sirin, he nearly laughed out loud. Apparently T'Lunit is notorious for some reason, though Sirin wouldn't give me any details."

Selek had once met T'Lunit himself, in a San Francisco restaurant called T'Vrana's. He nearly chuckled at the memory. A mathematics professor at Berkeley, T'Lunit had been declared _V'tosh ka'tur_ or without logic due to her fondness for handsome, unattached young males. She was a hedonist who preferred to remain unbonded. However, Selek had his own skeletons in the closet. He would not indulge in gossiping about others. A change of subject was in order.

"I understand that Tarisk's tale is a most unfortunate one."

"Very true, Selek. He was found adrift in space on an Orion slaver vessel, the only person alive. It seems that the "cargo" rebelled against their captors, managing to kill most of them and then seize the ship. However, once the slaves were in control, they began to fight among themselves and prey upon each other. Tarisk's older sister died after defending the child from a pedophile, a deviant who liked to take children's limbs as trophies. She killed the attacker and managed to cauterize Tarisk's bleeding stump, but later succumbed to the wounds the bastard had inflicted. Tarisk hid in the cargo hold while the other survivors battled it out. He went weeks without food and water. If the crew of _Discovery_ hadn't found him when they did, the boy surely would have died."

"In spite of all of this, Tarisk is a sweet natured child. I hope he stays that way and does not become bitter."

"That is my hope as well, Jack. I expect Tarisk's future will rest in his aunt's hands. One can only hope that she guides him well, focusing on the future rather than on all that has been lost."

"My mom has that gift. She was widowed at a relatively young age. My dad was a Starfleet officer, serving aboard the Kelvin, and not able to reach one of the escape pods. My mom was left with eight kids to raise, one of them disabled. She got dad's insurance benefits and a small pension, but she had to work hard to make ends meet. Even so, she never lost hope that things would get better."

"I asked her once if she was angry at the ones who killed dad, and if she ever thought about getting even."

Jack stopped his story for a moment to take a sip of his tea, a faraway look in his eyes. Selek waited for him to continue.

"Her answer surprised me. "Mijo, it says in the Good Book "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." There is evil in the world that must be punished. Yet if we all lived that way, we would spend all our time getting even. The cycle has to stop with someone. I don't even know the name of the one who killed your father. There is no way to avenge him. Instead I have tried to honor him by doing the best I could for the children he gave me, and to teach you to love rather than to hate."

"Your mother has been successful, Jack. I see the fruits of her labor all around me, as you have struggled to heal the little ones others have left blind and toothless. I am sure she is proud of you."

"Thank you, Selek."

The old Vulcan and the young Human sat together in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Jack looked forward to his return to San Francisco. There he and Lewis would be getting their home ready for the little Romulan-Human hybrid girl they planned to adopt.

Selek's musings took him in a another direction. He could not help but wonder just how different things would be if Nero's mother had been more like Jack's.

* * *

><p>"If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and toothless."<p>

Mahatma Gandhi

A/N: I started this story on the day we learned of Osama Bin Laden's death. As many of you know, my husband is a survivor of the attack on the USS Cole. He lost some dear friends on that day and bears scars both physical and mental. A year later, our family felt the impact of terrorism again as his stepbrother lost friends and co-workers in the attack on the World Trade Center. As Bin Laden was considered to be the mastermind behind these events, we had ample reason to rejoice in his death.

Yet when a friend asked me if I was going to celebrate, I said no. I am still concerned for the young servicemen and women still in harm's way and the danger of future attacks. Everyday I pray that this cycle of vengeance stops. More deaths will not bring back those who have already died.


End file.
